After a 12th-placed finish in the Championship last time around, Coventry City headed into a third second-tier season under Mark Robins hoping for further improvement, but they have been unable to make a fast start with all home games postponed due to pitch issues thus far.
As a result, their only three league fixtures have been played away, and they began with a 1-1 draw at Sunderland as Viktor Gyokeres hit an 84th-minute equaliser.
After a 4-1 EFL Cup thrashing at the hands of Bristol City, Robins’s side returned to league action with a trip to Millwall and were eventually beaten 3-2, despite taking a two-goal lead
through Kyle McFadzean and Matt Godden, as Jake Cooper and George Honeymanlevelled the contest before George Savillesnatched all three points for the hosts with an 85th-minute winner.
Their trip to Hull City at the weekend finished with the same scoreline, as a brace from Godden was not enough to force a result with Oscar Estupinannetting
a hat-trick for the Tigers, and, with just one point to their name from three games, the Sky Blues are already fighting from behind, albeit with three games in hand on the majority of sides in the second tier.
Coventry will now hope that the return to a full schedule acts as a new start and will go in search of a first win of the season on Wednesday.
They face a particularly tough test, though, as no side have managed to beat or even score against Preston North End in the Championship so far this season.
Heading into the new season with optimism under the management of Ryan Lowe, the Lilywhites have certainly shown their defensive steel with six consecutive league clean sheets but have struggled at the other end, netting just a single goal thus far.
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That lone second-tier goal came courtesy of Brad Potts in a win away at Luton Town, after back-to-back stalemates against Wigan Athletic and Hull City and a 4-1 thrashing of Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup, only for two further 0-0 draws to follow against Watford and Rotherham United.
Following a trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the second round of the EFL Cup, in which Ben Woodburn’s second-half goal was inadequate as they fell to a 2-1 defeat, the Lancashire outfit returned to league action away at Cardiff City on Saturday and played out a fifth goalless stalemate of the season to move onto eight points from six games.
While Lowe will certainly be pleased by his side’s performances in defence, the lack of goals may be becoming a growing concern, and they will be desperate to find their shooting boots and score a second Championship win of the campaign in their trip to Coventry.
